(4) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Saaf. Music Notation by Claudia Eliaza and Billy Buss. This collection of sixty-four songs--including traditional shanties, hymns, folk songs, and original tunes by Zane--targets music-savvy educators and caregivers. The songs, from many cultures and languages, shine amid Zane's lengthy, sentimental notes about song origins, musicians, and instruments. The childlike folk art features children with a diversity of skin tones. Musical notation includes chords and melody line; guitar and ukulele chord charts also provided. Ind.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Saaf. Although polar bear Benny tries to shoo a stray dog away from his bakery, the nattily dressed pooch hangs around. When Benny falls and breaks his leg, the dog pulls a Lassie, and the baker is finally won over. While the story's logic fails in places, the mixed-media paintings, in nicely varied design, feature an eminently likable doggy hero.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Donald Saaf. "Ten little sleepyheads / talking to their toys. / One falls asleep / in the middle of the noise." Bugs keep nodding off until there's only one little arthropod left. He's wide awake, alas, so readers are encouraged to begin the book again. The concept is familiar, but the taut rhymes and the images of improbably adorable pajama-clad insects recommend the book.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by Donald Saaf. The lyrics to folkie (and former Del Fuegos frontman) Zanes's cheerful children's tune are illustrated with images of kids and well-dressed animals enjoying what the day brings: a giant banjo-playing butterfly, a ride on a seaworthy umbrella, etc. The fantastical mixed-media illustrations have a mural-like quality. The book comes with a CD containing five songs (including "Hello Hello"); musical notation is provided.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Saaf. Revised and newly illustrated, this story tells how the tardy Easter Bunny tries in vain to give away eggs on other holidays in the year. Conveniently for the plot, a "fierce gale" blows him to the North Pole, and he finds work helping Santa, who rewards him with a handy alarm clock. The new collage and crudely painted gouache art shows a disturbingly hollow-eyed Easter Bunny, but the story will still draw readers.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: April, 1957

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Saaf. With the exception of the nighttime hunters (owl, fox, and snake), everyone on Sigmund's farm has sweet dreams. Horses dream of galloping on the sea; ducks dream of riding bikes through the sky; "children dream of making noise, / Of big, red berries and birthday toys." The collage illustrations have an appropriately surreal quality, but there is a disjointed feel to the rhyming text.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Donald Saaf. A young boy plays with his toy trains, while waiting for the daily freight train to "chug-a-chug-chug and clickety-clack" through the nearby mountains. The rhyming text is uneven in places, but the gouache paintings capture the animals onboard with whimsy and document the train's long ride in bright, simple detail.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Saaf. In this sequel to Pushkin Meets the Bundle, Pushkin, the family dog, grumbles about having to help take care of "the bundle," his nickname for his owners' toddler son. The bundle gets the best seat, the red bed, and everything else he wants when the family goes on vacation--much to the canine narrator's dismay. Stylized gouache illustrations add playful touches to this formulaic tale of dog/baby rivalry.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Saaf. Ziefert offers two poems celebrating band music: "Mr. Lion's Marching Band" and "Sheep's Dance Band." The marching band parades through the countryside, performing for one enthusiastic toad, while the dance band plays for a variety of equally enthusiastic animals. "Grab a partner, / Little or big. / Dance to the music / Jiggety jig!" The spontaneous-looking, childlike illustrations match the bouncy text.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert